Shared Ownership

• Step 1: Find a property you like and register your interest.
• Step 2: We will send you details along with information on how to get financially assessed.
• Step 3: Once your affordability is confirmed, we will arrange a viewing of the property for you.
• Step 4: If you like the property, you can reserve it by paying a reservation fee of £500.
• Step 5: You’ll need to complete the sales pack sent to you once you’ve made a reservation.
• Step 6: By now you’ll have your mortgage & solicitors arranged. They do their bit to turn a property into your new home.
• Step 7: Exchange contracts and arrange a completion date.
• Step 8: Completion day – pick up the keys to your new home!

The Poplar HARCA sales team are on hand throughout the process to guide you and answer any questions you may have. We suggest you seek professional advice from a financial advisor to help you find a mortgage, as well as solicitors, to help you with the legal side of things.

We will also be there on your completion day to give you the grand tour of your new home and go through all the important things you’ll need to know when you’re a home owner.

• You need to prove that you’re over 18 and a resident in the UK.
• There is a maximum annual household income limit.  To be eligible, your household income must be less than £90,000 (that’s both yours’ and your partners’ or friends’ income if buying together).
• You cannot afford to buy a home on the open market.
• You don’t own a property, or part of a property, at the time of completing on your purchase.
• You have good credit history.
• You have savings to cover the costs of buying a property such as solicitors’ fees, charges, and deposits.
• For some homes, you may have to show that you live and work in the area or have connection to the area where you want to buy the home.

• The monthly cost of shared ownership is often less than the cost of buying the same home outright or renting it privately.
• You only pay a 5% deposit on the share you buy, which means a smaller outlay to get that first step on the property ladder. For a 25% share, this is often less than £8,000.
• Buying a new home through shared ownership allows you to buy chain-free and you’ll benefit from a 10 year build warranty. On re-sale homes the build warranty will differ depending on the length of time the current Leaseholder has lived there.
• New homes are ready to move into with a great specification and better energy efficiency than older properties.
• You can buy further shares in your home, this is called staircasing. You can staircase as and when you can afford to. You can eventually own 100% of your property if you wish to.

Deposit

• This is often just 5% of the share value you are purchasing. Your deposit may vary based on your personal circumstances.
• For example, if you’re buying a 25% share of a property with a full value of £350,000, the value of your share will be £87,500. If a 5% deposit was required, you would need to put down a deposit of just £4,375.

Solicitor fees

• You will need a solicitor or licensed conveyance professional to carry out the necessary legal work. Solicitors’ fees are usually on a fixed cost basis and the solicitors on our mortgage panel will be happy to give you a quote.

Mortgage broker fees

• Most mortgage brokers will charge a fee for their services and these can vary from a fixed amount to a percentage of the purchase price. A mortgage broker should explain clearly what fees are charged and when, before they undertake any work on your behalf.

Other moving costs

• Other costs may be incurred, such as removal costs but these can vary widely. Housing associations recommend that you have between £3,000 and £5,000 in hand to cover all the fees and costs of moving, which includes the solicitors and broker fees.

Monthly costs

With the exception of utility bills and council tax, the monthly costs you can expect to pay for your home include:

• Mortgage: Your mortgage is the loan you use to buy a property. When you buy a home, you’ll put down a cash deposit and pay for the rest using a mortgage from a bank or building society. You pay the mortgage, plus interest back, in monthly installments agreed with your bank or building society, over a set number of years.
• Rent: This is usually set around 2.75% of the unsold equity. So, if you wanted to buy a 25% share in a property worth £350,000, the equity you would pay rent on is £262,500. If you multiply by 2.75% (rent %) and divide by 12, you will get the total rent payable per month. The amount of rent will vary for each home depending on the share you buy, and the value of your property when you buy it.

Service Charge

• Service charges are payments made by homeowners to the housing association for the services they provide. The charges include maintenance and repairs to common parts, insurance of the building and, in some cases, provision of lifts, lighting, communal aerials, door entry systems, cleaning of common areas and grounds maintenance. Usually the charges will also include the costs of management.
• Service charges can vary from year to year; they can go up or down without any limit, relative to the services provided and the building. Details of what can and can’t be charged by the landlord and the proportion of the charge to be paid by the individual homeowner will all be set out in your lease.

Insurance

• Buildings insurance is covered as part of the service charge. We strongly recommend getting contents insurance too, which covers damages to your furniture, carpets, white goods and personal belongings. Contents insurance is the responsibility of the person living in the property – it is not compulsory, but it is advisable.